Soccer-Late penalty gives relegation-threatened Burnley draw with Man United
MANCHESTER, England - Manchester United could muster only a point against Burnley on Saturday after substitute Zeki Amdouni scored a late penalty to rescue a 1-1 Premier League draw for the relegation-threatened side.
Burnley's 87th-minute penalty, awarded after goalkeeper Andre Onana fouled Amdouni in the box, cancelled out a late strike by Antony and leaves Erik ten Hag's team sixth in the standings.
The draw was a blow to United's hopes of a European qualifying spot, as they sit six points behind fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have two games in hand.
"That is the facts," Ten Hag told the BBC. "We needed to win. The past few weeks we've got in winning positions and then given it away. The gap is too big in this phase of the season.
"Over many phases of the game we did very good (but) we gave it away again at the end," the Dutchman added.
"We have to look in the mirror. We made a mistake, but you take responsibility and they should understand what it means for a team and for a manager."
The draw kept alive Burnley's survival hopes even though they remain 19th in the standings, two points adrift of the safety zone.
"Burnley FC did itself proud today," said a pleased Clarets manager Vincent Kompany. "More than performance, it's the effort. A lot of people will talk about style of play, but it's useless and worthless if you don't have what they showed out there, the sacrifice for each other.
"We could have an off day, (but) as long as we run and we do what we did today, then the team makes me proud."
United squandered numerous chances and had Onana to thank for keeping Burnley off the scoresheet before Antony broke the deadlock in the 79th minute. The Brazilian intercepted a poor pass and sprinted into the box before finishing into the bottom corner. A fan handed Antony a Sonic the Hedgehog toy, which he hoisted aloft in celebration.
The good mood at Old Trafford was short-lived as Onana punched Amdouni in the face while clearing the ball in the 87th minute. VAR confirmed the penalty which Amdouni calmly put into the bottom corner to give his side a valuable point.
"Result is very important for us, we knew that coming to Old Trafford would be difficult but at the end I think we deserved this point," Amdouni told Premier League Productions.
"Never easy to take a penalty in the last five minutes at 1-0 down. But I took my breath and took it.
"We have three games (left of the season), I haven't seen the other results but we will play until the last game and we will play until the end."
Onana was pressed into several acrobatic saves, including two from Lyle Foster in the first half and a shot from Wilson Odobert seconds before the final whistle that the keeper stopped with his leg at the near post.
United had 27 shots to the Clarets' 16, with Alejandro Garnacho accounting for many of the home side's, including a second-half strike from the edge of the box that Arijanet Muric palmed over the crossbar.
Source: Reuters
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